


forever, darling (that's what's up)

by Skyebyrd



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Ballet, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-04-06 05:19:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4209459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyebyrd/pseuds/Skyebyrd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis has a daughter that's into ballet. His daughter's ballet instructor is into him. It all works out quite nicely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	forever, darling (that's what's up)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [passenger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/passenger/gifts).



> thank you n for helping me out and fucking STOP ASKING ME TO BUY U THINGS U MAKE MORE MONEY THAN ME
> 
> thank you so much to the SUPER RAD AWESOME AMAZING mods for doing this and putting this on. it's rad and ur rad
> 
> this fic is written based off the following prompt:
> 
> AU BALLETINSTRUCTOR!HARRY and FATHER/FOOTIECOACH!LOUIS - (Probably like 29 year old Lou) Louis' daughter (it was a drunk night a while ago but he owns up to his decisions and taking care of his girl is one of them - he doesn't know or have any connection to the lady past the birth of their daughter...she's probably 6 now) wants to do ballet. Who is he to deny her? Louis signs her up at the local Y and notices their need for a footie coach. So, Louis finds himself a regular footie coach at the Y and his daughter a young ballerina in the making. He also notices the volunteer uni student who helps the ballet instructor for hours in the community. 20 year old Harry, Dance Major, volunteers to teach ballet. They meet and it's a beautiful Spring of falling in love.
> 
> i couldn't fit EVERYTHING in here, but i hope u like it anyways !!! it was SUPER FUN to write and i loved it v much :)))

“Addison Emilie Tomlinson, if you don’t get down right this instant you’ll be late for school and I’ll be late for work and it won’t be a pretty day!” Louis calls down the hall just as he promptly hears a scurry of feet and something crashing to the ground.

“Sorry!” Addy’s voice sounds down to Louis, and he just sighs, pinching the top of his nose and closing his eyes.

It’s really his fault. He slept past his alarm this morning after a night of grading third grade history reports on sand erosion and had been up late. They aren’t terribly long papers, a page and a half if the child was feeling particularly gutsy, but at twenty students it takes up a fair bit of time. He’s also been putting it off the past couple days in favor of doing more things with Addy in the evenings, but it seems it’s just come back to bite him in the ass.

“What was that?” Louis asks, his voice strained once his daughter appears at her doorway.

“Nothing.” Addy’s quick to reply, eyes wide, her small hands gripping the straps of her backpack tightly. Her backpack looks heavier than it should, so Louis motions her down the hallway and zips it open. She’s somehow managed to stuff in three dolls, a tutu, her dance shoes and a leotard along with her school supplies.

“Addy, we have your dance bag ready for a reason. You don’t need these in your backpack as well.” Louis sets about taking all the unnecessary things out of her bag, Addy’s eyes welling with tears. At five years old, she’s rather prone to tears and throwing a fit at any chance she can get. Louis still sets her leotard and shoes on the table along with two of her dolls. He leaves in one of them because he’s not totally heartless and zips it back up, patting her head where she’s stuck in four hair-clips and a lopsided hair-band around her strawberry blonde locks. None of the clips are holding her hair back, though, and instead look like they’re hanging off her bangs quite painfully, so he bends down and begins fixing them.

His mum always knew how to do her hair right. He hasn’t quite gotten the knack of it, yet. Even after five years of living with his daughter by himself and eighteen years of living with all of his sisters, he still hasn’t gotten past a simple braid and a ponytail here and there. Anything more than that is beyond him, really. Addy’s always asking for some kind of complicated braid or up-do and Louis always has to tell her no. He even has to get one of the other parents from Addy’s ballet class to put her hair up for lessons.

“Alright. Ready, darling?” Louis asks her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Addy nods, still pouting about her tutu and leotard and dolls. Louis just stands up and goes to open the door, letting her stomp down the steps of the porch and wait by the car as he grabs her dance bag and his own backpack and laptop case before heading outside. Addy patiently waits for him to place everything in the passenger seat and then lifts her hands up to be placed into her carseat.

“Can we listen to the Taylor Swift CD again?” She asks, voice small and face innocent, as if she’s in any place to be making requests after this morning.

But Louis is weak. He’s given in to his daughter’s (almost) every wish since she was left in front of his and Zayn’s front door five years ago, birth certificate and a diaper bag beside her. The name of her mother was on the certificate, of course, a name he didn’t recognize, but it didn’t and never will matter. Any person who leaves a child on the floor of a building, crying and hungry and without even changing their diaper first, isn’t someone he wants around his child. She’s never contacted him and he’ll never contact her.

Zayn had been so amazing about it, really. Louis’ and his family, too, always offering to babysit and get clothes and day trips so Louis could have some time to himself. The amount of times he and Zayn had gotten confused for a couple is ridiculous and they’d eventually just gotten tired of correcting people and instead just gave a smile and a polite thanks before moving on.

They’d moved out of the apartment into their house now once Addy turned two. The apartment wasn’t fit for a child, but they just couldn’t afford it until Louis got his teaching job, which he finally landed and they almost immediately took out a loan and started making payments on it so she could have somewhere better to grow up. Zayn is probably asleep right now, actually, now that he thinks about it. His shift at the YMCA doesn’t start for another few hours, the lucky asshole.

“Of course.” He gives her another kiss, this time on the cheek, as he clicks the final latch of her car-seat in place. Addy smiles widely at him, happy as a clam. Louis hops into the driver’s seat and hits play, the sounds of Addy’s Fearless CD playing through the speakers. He pulls out of the driveway perhaps a bit faster than he would on any other day, but he really wouldn’t like to be late to work. He was late two days in a row last week, once because Addy refused to put clothes on and he had to chase her around the house and backyard for _fifteen fucking minutes_ , and the other because she’d spilled her orange juice all over the papers on the table and he’d spent too long trying to dry them off. He didn’t feel like coming in late for a third.

Traffic is (miraculously) clearer than he’s seen it in weeks and they get to the school with a few minutes to spare. Louis gets Addy out of her seat and sets her on the ground, grabbing her hand and walking her around to the other side of the car to grab their things. They walk forward, her hand still tight in his grip, and she goes to walk straight onto the street, but Louis tugs her back.

Addy looks up at him, annoyed, but he just raises his eyebrows at her. “What do we do when we cross the street?”

She sighs, like she’s suffering from this. “We look both ways.” She mockingly looks in both directions to find no cars coming their way, and rolls her eyes up to him.

Louis had doubted a bit, in the beginning few years, if Addy was even his or if some woman just slapped his name on the certificate and decided that was that. She shares so few features with him, other than their eyes, so Louis was often left unsure if he should even be the responsible party. It isn’t that he didn’t want Addy, of course; he never stopped loving her, and he never considered giving her up, but sometimes he just wondered. When she does things like this, though, he knows there’s no doubting it; Addison is his own flesh and blood. He would say he doesn’t know where she gets her attitude from, but he absolutely fucking does. Zayn makes a joke of it all the time, how alike Louis and Addy are.

“Do not get sassy with me, little missy. It’s very important to look both ways and you have yet to get the knack of it.”

They walk across the street and into the school. Louis walks Addy to her class and waves to her teacher inside once they get to the door. Then, he kneels down in front of her, smoothing her hair back and fixing her drooping hair-band before kissing her forehead. She laughs and he smiles at her fondly.

“I love you, Addy. Have a good day, yeah?” She nods at him and kisses his cheek before darting inside. Louis stands on his feet again and hurries to get to his class on time. Luckily for Louis, Mrs. Ruiz across the hall is always willing to keep an eye on his kids whenever he’s late. She’s old, but sweet, and Louis is glad to have her. He just wishes he didn’t need to ask for her help every few days.

God, the school year’s hardly begun and he feels like a fucking wreck.

Louis pulls the door open, greeting his students and helping them collect their things together in an organized manner. Backpacks going on hooks, markers and pencils going into their supply boxes, jackets hung up in their labeled cubbies.

When everyone’s sat down and settled, he stands up at the front of the class and takes roll. Almost the moment he’s done, Sarah’s hand shoots up like a rocket.

“Yes, Sarah?” He calls on her, pulling down a map of the first colonies of America.

“Why do you have your shirt on inside out?”

He just sighs, looking down to see she’s right. It’s going to be a long day.

 

* * *

 

 

“Come on, daddy, drive faster! Faster, faster, faster!” Addy’s yelling at him, laughing and kicking her little feet up and down. Louis reaches behind himself, grabbing onto her foot and causing her to snort louder and quicker; Louis pokes fun at her a bit, oinking like a little pig and she’s just so, so happy.  

“Can’t go any faster that this, buggy.” He says afterwards, smiling at her in the mirror and shaking her foot playfully, seeing her matching grin reflected back to him. “We’ll get there in time, don’t worry. Eleanor will be just as happy to see you as last week and the world will go on.”

Addy turns to the window, watching with glee as the scenery goes by. She acts as though she doesn’t go to ballet lessons every day, he swears.

They pull into the parking lot of the YMCA five minutes later, Addy already pulling at her buckles in her haste to leave. Louis gets her out and, like at school, holds her hand while getting her dance bag out of the car, hanging it off of his shoulder as they walk into the building. The distinct smell of chlorine hits his nose and he vaguely recalls the first week or so of working here in which Louis had to always fight the urge to gag against the scent. He’d gotten used to it soon after that, thankfully, and it doesn’t bother him anymore.

Once in the building, Louis lets go of Addy’s hand, letting her skip ahead of him down the hall to the small dance studio. He follows shortly behind her, smiling at her energy. Louis is just grateful she’s found something she can look forward to every day.

Addy used to just play in the rec room with the rest of the children and Louis _never_ heard the end of it. She’d go on and on about how boring it was, how the other children were always a bit older or weren’t interested in playing dress up or playing soccer, and how the person minding them would always be occupied with something else. Louis nearly put in a complaint that the minder should pay more attention to the children before he walked in one day and realized just how many children there were in the rec room with just the one minder; it’d be nearly impossible for said minder to cater to each individual child’s interests.

Louis’ the soccer coach for the rec team here and he always has to bring Addy with him. Well, almost always; some days Zayn is off work and doesn’t mind watching her while Louis coaches. During a practice early on this school year, he’d gone to pick Addy up from the rec room, only to not find her. He went to the minder immediately, worried sick to his stomach, when they told him they’d sent someone along with her to go to the bathroom. Louis had let out a huge sigh of relief and grabbed her things, telling the minder he’d just pick her up from there and to go ahead and sign her out.

Louis’d left, but as he went to the bathroom, he’d passed the small dance studio tucked away almost near the end of the hallway. He’d looked in on pure chance, only to see Addy chatting away with a woman in tights, a loose shirt, and dance shoes on, hair pulled up in a loose ponytail and smiling at his daughter. If he was in a movie (and into women), that would have probably been that awful, cliche part where he falls in love with his daughter’s dance instructor. Ha, right.

“And -- and you teach ballet?” Addy had asked excitedly, practically vibrating, hands tucked into small fists like she does when she’s over-worked.

“I do, especially to talented little girls like you.” The woman had replied. Louis had taken this as his cue to walk in and introduce himself, and the conversation steadily went to discussions of ballet lessons (okay, so they immediately went there -- his daughter is quite persistent), and the rest was history.

Louis walks Addy down the hallway to the family bathroom, ushering her in and getting her changed into her dance outfit. Addy does a twirl to show off her skirt, as she always does, and smiles brightly at the sounds that her shoes make on the floor. Louis snaps a hairband around her wrist and walks her back down the hallway to the studio, where Eleanor stands in a near-identical outfit to the first time he saw her weeks ago, speaking with one of the mothers hovering around the room, their children chattering to each other.

Addy goes off to join them and Louis shoots Eleanor and his daughter a wave before heading off around the back of the building, where the soccer field lies. There’s only about three children there, the parents off by the sidelines and paying attention, making sure they don’t hurt themselves. That’s one of the things Louis’ noticed since his daughter began ballet; parents tend to worry more about their children when they’re screaming and running and kicking a ball about as opposed to plies and twirls, despite the fact that they both pose real dangers. Torn muscles, broken bones, cuts and bruises, falls and sprains; they’re all likely in any sport.

Which, dance _is_ a sport, and fuck people who say it isn’t. His coworker, Jack, laughed when Louis told him Addy was excited to dance and that Louis was happy she was interested in sports. He had said, “Dance isn’t a sport, Louis, it’s too girly,” and Louis promptly left and hasn’t contacted him since. No one is allowed to tell him sexist bullshit, especially when Louis has a daughter. Jack is forty-eight years old and somehow _still_ never got it through his head that women were equal to men and gender roles were fabricated bullshit. If Jack wants to act like a sexist shitstain, he can very well do it by himself and away from Louis and his family.

It’s vaguely irrelevant at this point, anyway; it was months ago, and Addy is happy as ever to be dancing her little heart out.

Louis greets the kids, nodding over to their parents, and has the children help him set up some cones. He coaches the kindergarten through second grade level and at this stage there isn’t a whole lot one can do by way of coaching; the game is too complicated for them to play by the actual rules, and positions might as well not exist for all the kids just running about.  The rest of the children arrive, their parents setting up their lawn chairs by the sideline, water bottles for them and snacks for the kids sitting beside them on the grass. Louis has them do some stretches, making a game out of it and seeing who can go the furthest, and then they run a couple laps around the field. It’s a small field, half of a normal soccer field (possibly a little less, even), so it’s no trouble to the children to run around it. Afterwards, Louis gives half the kids pinnies and divides them up into two teams and just kind of -- let's them at it. There’s not much else for him _to_ do, really, as a quarter of them are too young to take much direction and the other three-quarters are too stubborn to listen.

Games are much of the same. He just blows the whistle and lets the kids scream and run around and try to kick a ball around. It’s certainly cute, and the kids always have so much fun.

Of course, one of the children, Aaliyah, is inevitably trips and her knee splits open. She’s crying a lot, and Louis can’t blame her at all, by the looks of the blood coming out of it; she must’ve just landed wrong on a rock or something. Her mother comes over, worry written over her face and paper towels in hand.

“Do you have anything in your car, or should I take her inside to the nurse’s office?”

The mother nods, picking her child up and holding Aaliyah close to her chest.

“Practice is over, I think.” The kids all let out sounds of disappointment at having practice end so soon, but Louis has to just give a quick goodbye and a wave before leading Aaliyah and her mother into the building. The blood is still coming fairly quickly and Louis doesn’t even bother with knocking on the door before opening it and ushering them in before him. There’s a few chairs and an empty desk, the door down the short hallway open and with a light on.

“Liam, come here!” Louis calls out, and Liam pokes his head around a door. Liam’s eyes widen at the sight and he motions them all into the small room. The mother sets Aaliyah onto the bed pressed up against the wall, the small girl rubbing her fists into her eyes as she continues to cry. Liam sets about cleaning out the wound, speaking to Aaliyah the whole time and praising her for doing so well and being so brave and Louis laughs when Liam uses the word “hardcore.” Her mother holds Aaliyah’s hand, chiming in with her own words of comfort now and again, before Liam places gauze around the wound and tapes her up, Louis making funny faces behind her to distract her and cause Aaliyah to laugh.

“You good to go, sweetheart?” Louis asks Aaliyah, chucking her chin and causing a smile to bloom below her tears. She nods to him, suddenly shy, ducking her head under her mother’s chin.

“Aaliyah, what do we say to your coach and the nurse?” Her mother prompts and Aaliyah mumbles a small and adorable “thank you” before she and her mother are out the door.

Louis claps Liam across the back once they’re out of sight. “Batman Liam saves the day yet again, it seems.”

Liam just shrugs. “It’s not a big deal. Could’ve been a lot worse than it was.” Liam turns around back to the table, taking off the paper covering and throwing it away, replacing it quickly for the next person to walk in. “Don’t you have a practice to get back to?”

“Nah, I figured it was close enough to the end of practice, anyway, so I ended it considering the state her knee was in. Poor thing.” Louis replies, watching Liam put away his gauze and disinfectant back into the cabinets.

“Took it like a champ, though.” Liam smiles brightly. Louis laughs in reply, nodding and thinking of his own daughter. Louis looks up at the clock and sees he’s still got a few minutes until her rehearsal is over, so he should head over and try to catch a bit of her dancing. He bids Liam goodbye and begins the short walk across the building to the studio.

He walks into the open doorway, the little children and Eleanor across the room, dancing alongside the bar and mirror. Eleanor seems to be teaching them how to do proper spins, trying to get them to hold their arms in a perfect circle and not topple over while the kids try to balance on one foot, kicking off with the other. A few kids fall over now and again, but as the rest of them seem to be staying on both feet, there are only a few casualties.

Louis spots Addy a moment later and sees she’s doing it almost perfectly. Her arms are too low for her balance to be right, but she’s not falling over and Louis’ so proud of that fact. He walks over by the wall, where there’s a bench set up for observing parents, and takes a seat at the end of it. There’s two mothers there already, one paying attention and the other on her phone. He recognizes them; they’re Sarah’s parents. Addy’s gotten close to Sarah since beginning her lessons and he’s dropped her off at Sarah’s a few times for playdates. Her mothers share a smile with him and he returns it in kind.

He watches as his daughter spins and spins and spins, wobbling every now and again from dizziness, before Eleanor stops them and says lessons are over for today. The other parents had steadily been trickling into the room, taking up the back wall and waiting patiently for their children to finish up. The majority of them leave very quickly, but Addy and Sarah are in the corner talking to Eleanor. Louis walks up to them, motioning to Sarah and Eleanor to stay quiet about his presence and goes to scare Addy; unfortunately, Addy is his child and she’d noticed him in the mirror when he was creeping over, turning around rapidly and “grr-ing” in his face instead, face scrunched and hands curled like claws. Louis pretends to be frightened out of his mind and runs to hide behind Eleanor.

“Oh, help me, fair maiden! There’s a loose tiger and I’ll surely be killed!” Louis calls out dramatically, Eleanor and Sarah laughing at the two of them. Addy begins chasing him around the room, her breath spent on laughing and roaring at him in intervals. After a few laps, Louis concedes defeat and spreads himself across the floor, Addy crashing onto him in a heap, tickling his sides. Addy doesn’t so much as tickle as jab her fingers into his body, but he tries his hardest to laugh anyway.

Once that adventure is over, they stand back up again. Sarah and her family have gone by now and it’s just Louis, Addy, and Eleanor left. Eleanor’s in the corner, a hand on her back and another on her stomach.

“Oh my god, you’re _pregnant_!” Louis shouts gleefully, Eleanor turning around and staring at him in shock.

“What?” She cries out, her second hand flashing to her stomach. “No. What? No.” Her eyes are wide, her gaze flashing between Louis and her stomach. “I can’t be -- how do you know?”

“My daddy’s real smart, Ms. Eleanor!” Addy chimes in with a smile, causing Eleanor to smile, even if she still seems confused and shocked.

“My mom’s a nurse who spends about ninety percent of her job delivering babies. Plus, I have seven younger siblings, six of them in my old house right now; think I’m a bit versed in the ways of pregnancy.” Louis adds, and Eleanor just makes an understanding face, expression flattening out into mild consideration as she stares at her stomach again. “The way you’re standing and the way your hips have widened a bit, probably means your body’s preparing to hold a baby. If you’ve been sore a couple weeks, that’s why.”

“I’ll get a test this afternoon, then, I guess.” She scrunches her eyebrows. “Did I even get my period last month? Oh my god, I can’t remember if I got my period.”

“What’s a period?” Addy asks and Louis and Eleanor just share a look before laughing. Louis pats his daughter on the head.

“Maybe in a few years, love. It’s a bit much for you to understand right now.”

Addy considers this for a moment before saying, “Is it a lady thing?”

“Well, yes. In a sense. It has to do with private parts that you have in your body, but that’s not always women.” Eleanor gives a cough and an eyeroll. “Yes, well, that’s also probably a bit too big of a concept at your age. Just don’t worry about it right now, yeah? You’ll know soon enough.”

Addy shrugs. “Okay,” she says. “Can we go home now?”

“Sure, love. If you want to wait by the door, you can.” Louis says before turning back to Eleanor, the steady footsteps of Addy’s dance shoes tapping softly against the floor. “Be sure to talk to Max, yeah?” He reminds and she nods, pressing a hand to her stomach again in vague disbelief.

Louis is sure of these things, though. He always is.

 

* * *

 

 

Sure enough, a few months later, Eleanor is standing in front of the class with her belly protruding proudly, positively glowing since her announcement a few weeks back.

“So, kids, I can’t come back next semester because I’m going to have a little baby to take care of!” The children let off a cheer, all rushing forward to touch her stomach with the reckless abandon and insensitivity only a child could possess. Eleanor is more than gracious, however, to all of her little protégés and allows them all to take turns touching her swollen belly. The only reason Louis is here to see this is because the soccer team has been disbanded for the year. It’d been a great season in which every one of his kids got a lovely participation trophy because at this age. They’d played probably ten games in all, but the children absolutely loved it and Louis loved seeing them happy and was just disappointed it didn’t go year-round; although, he can imagine children probably wouldn’t be as excited about the game in the dead of winter.

Addy is arguably the most excited kid in the entire room about the new baby, proudly declaring to anyone who bothered to listen (or even if they weren’t) that “my daddy found the baby all by hisself!” Louis is endeared with her enthusiasm and Eleanor gets a kick out of it as well and has even put Addy “in charge of” the baby shower. Even if it’s just a technical honorary title, Addy struts about like she owns the place now.

Come the end of the semester, Eleanor is having to take more and more breaks, having to sit down in chairs and drink more water than she normally would. She’s always complaining to Louis about her bad back, how the baby kicks in the night, how her feet are constantly sore; Louis doesn’t envy her one bit.

The semester wraps up slowly, the cold settling in easily around them. It takes more and more convincing on Louis’ part to get Addy out of bed as the sun rises later and later, which just makes his life more of a hassle. His life at school has just massively sucked as of late; parents have complained to him time and again for teaching his kids “radical ideas,” because _God forbid_ he teach children to love everyone, including non-heterosexual and non-cisnormative people, right? It makes his blood boil every time the vice principal calls him to the office and speaks with him about another complaint, but he deals with it and just continues teaching the kids as usual. By the final week of classes, he’s put up a Christmas tree, a menorah, and a kinarah that was actually brought in by one of his students so he didn’t see any problem with it at all. Various bobbles and lights are strung up around the room and drawings by the kids are stuck to the board with magnets.

With the complaints from parents and Addy being upset about Eleanor leaving lessons, Louis is just left exhausted at the end of the day. He loves his kids and he loves his daughter and he’s so happy for Eleanor, but it’s a lot for him. He just wishes he had -- well, anyone. He has Zayn and that’s amazing, of course, because Zayn is always around and helpful and Addy adores him, but it’s just different than what Louis wants.

He hasn’t been able to date anyone since Addy. Before Addy had shown up, he’d been out almost every other night, drinking and dancing and fucking the night away, but lately he just hasn’t had any time for any of that. He, of course, doesn’t blame her for any of that, nor is he even vaguely resentful towards her mother; it’s nobody’s fault, really, it just _is_ and he deals with it fine.

Well, had been dealing with it just fine. Lately it’s just been sitting heavily on his chest. It seems like every holiday brings all the couples out in droves and with Zayn going home for a visit over Christmas, it’s just him and Addy in the house. Liam’s too busy with meeting Sophia’s family for the first time to worry about entertaining Louis either, so he’s kind of stuck in a bit of a limbo. He loves the holidays and he loves spending time with his daughter, but with his birthday coming up he just kind of wishes for some time alone.

Alone time doesn’t come, but Louis’ mother and siblings come over for a visit on his birthday and Louis carts himself and Addy over to their house for Christmas day. New Years is spent with himself and his daughter, both fast asleep as the ball drops and he’s happy, he is, but sometimes he just gets a bit lonely.

It’ll be fine, he’s sure of it.

 

* * *

 

 

The start of the new semester is just as cold as the end of the last one, a bleak January day full of snow and ice and chill. Addy’s lessons don’t begin for another week despite school starting today and she’s been feeling down about it since yesterday. She’d been absolutely ecstatic, throwing everything she could possibly need into her dance bag until Louis had to gently break the news to her that she was putting her bag together a bit too early. Addy had promptly broken down in tears at the news, but Louis is a softie so he brought out some ice cream and let her stay up a bit past her bedtime as a means to make her feel better.

The school year starts up again and Louis somehow (by pure miracle alone, he assumes) is early and at his desk by the time his first student arrives. And because he was early, even his desk is _organized_ making him feel like life is looking up already.

The rest of the day day goes surprisingly well. The kids are all sated after a two week break, the parents seem to have momentarily forgotten Louis’ liberal ways, and his daughter is laughing brightly in her seat as he drives her to her first ballet lesson of the year.

“Who do you think is gonna be my new teacher? I hope she’s pretty.” Addy’s saying, looking out the window at the falling snow and swinging her feet again, breath fogging up the glass.

“Dunno, buggy. Could be anyone, couldn’t it?” Louis shrugs.

A few minutes later, once Addy’s dressed and her hair is kind of up in a ponytail (there had been a few tears on Addy’s part and Louis had felt spectacularly terrible about it, but without Eleanor there, he didn’t know if the new teacher would be okay with doing his daughter’s hair every day), they walk into the studio.

As soon as they pass through the door, Louis takes everything back about his life finally going well. His life is fucking hell and he’s probably been cursed for something he did in his childhood.

Standing in front of the mirror is six feet of a gorgeous human; the man has long, long curly hair that he’s currently trying to put up into a bun, a loose shirt that’s slipping over his shoulder, revealing his shoulder bone that Louis kind of wants to lick a lot, and tight yoga pants that hug his thick thighs and pert ass. His feet have on some slip-on dance shoes, and, God, he’s just _perfect_.

The new instructor takes notice of them in the mirror and turns around, a smile across his face and -- fuck. Dimples. _Definitely_ cursed, then.

“Hi, I’m Harry Styles, the new dance instructor.” Harry extends his ( _huge_ , fucking Christ) hand to Louis first, who steadily shakes it and introduces himself and Addy beside him.

“Addy? What a gorgeous name!” Harry says, face bright; Addy giggles, hiding behind Louis’ leg shyly. Louis could relate. But then Harry’s eyes catch on to the monstrosity that is Addy’s hair and sends an amused look up to Louis. “Did you want some help with your hair, Miss Addy?” Harry asks Addy, looking back at her. Addy’s face lights up so much and she leaps out from behind Louis and nods her head.

“Yes! Yes, yes, yes, _please_ , yes, Daddy’s so bad at it, please, please, please!” She says quickly, running off to where Louis had set her dance bag by the door and digging through it until she finds a hairbrush. She rushes back over with it in her hand, waving it about and almost smacking Harry in the face with it in her haste. Harry laughs as he takes it from her and motions for her to sit down in front of him as he kneels beside her.

“Uh, thanks,” Louis says lamely, almost speechless. Addy had taken to Harry awfully quick; she had taken to Eleanor fast as well, but that was on the basis that Eleanor was the first dance instructor she’d ever met in her life. Her taking with Harry is -- _something else_ , Louis thinks. Maybe Harry’s just really good with kids and he is doing that gorgeous thing with his face, so, Louis understands. “I don’t know why, but I just haven’t ever gotten the knack of her hair down. I can do my sisters’ hair well enough, but Addy’s curls just give me a hard time, I think.”

Harry sends him a smile and Louis’ heart skips a bit. “Well, lucky for you, I am well versed in the ways of curly hair.”

Louis nods, a bit slowly, smiling back. Harry is very sweet and decidedly sent from Satan.

 

* * *

 

 

Over the course of the next few weeks, Louis' senses are steadily assaulted every afternoon by Harry Styles' perfect body and personality. Harry is unfailingly kind and sweet, not only to Louis and Addy, but to each and every one of the other children. When Louis watches Sarah at his house for a sleepover one weekend, Sarah confesses to having a crush on Harry, which makes Louis laugh because he shares a crush with a five-year-old.

That’s fucking upsetting.

"He's just so perfect, Mr. Tomlinson!" Sarah gushes to him and Louis, like, _knows._

As the weather gets warmer, Louis begins to gain confidence, and his chats with Harry both before and after lessons get longer and less painstakingly awkward. They chat about nothing, really; Harry will mention how Addy is doing in her lessons like Louis hasn't been sat in the back watching them the whole time and Louis will speak to Harry about the kids working at the YMCA and the children he coaches. Harry seems interested in how Louis gets the kids to concentrate enough to actually play the game, and he laughs loudly when Louis reveals that he really can’t even do that.   

After lessons one day, Addy goes to stay with Sarah for the night and Louis stays behind to chat with Harry, the topic changing to difficult parents.

“And so I told Mr. Deringer that Michaela was just fine and that her playing basketball with the other kids wouldn’t damage her later on in life psychologically. Like, the lengths some parents go to reinforce some made-up and frankly ridiculous gender roles on their own children is ridiculous and disgusting.”

"Yeah, the other week, Dylan's parents got mad I wasn't teaching him more masculine moves. Like, this is ballet? What do they want me to do? What's wrong with being feminine?" Harry's voice is incredulous and his hand gestures are wild, Louis nodding along eagerly in agreement.

“Exactly! Like, stereotypically feminine things aren’t harmful to boys at all. I have no idea at all why people get so up in arms over it.”

“And Dylan loves ballet; he’s almost as good as Addy, even, and I think his parents just signed him up so they can seem like forward-thinking people, but I don’t think they like it very much.” Harry sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I’m worried they’re going to pull him out once the semester’s out. He’s so talented and passionate at such a young age; he’ll be devastated. I just hope his parent’s will see how happy he is at the recital.”

Louis’ gaze snaps at that. “Recital? What recital?”

Harry lets out a laugh. “What do you mean ‘what recital’?” At Louis’ blank stare, he continues with, “Oh, well, there’s a Spring recital every year. It’s not much of a production, especially with the younger classes, and it’s just held in the auditorium of the elementary school down the road, but it’s still something, you know? It’s just a nice thing for the kids.”

“Oh,” Louis replies, eyebrows raised in shock. “I had no idea.”

Harry just looks at him for a moment with a small, yet fond smile and Louis is sure the same expression is reflected back after a few moments.

“So,” Harry starts the conversation off again, “Does Mrs. Tomlinson work very late hours?”

At first Louis is confused because why is Harry asking about Louis’ mom’s work habits, but then -- then it hits him, and his face heats up.

“Uh, there isn’t -- I mean -- I’m single.” Louis stutters out. “I don’t actually know who Addy’s mom is. I mean, I technically do, but she just dropped Addy off on my doorstep when she was born and I don’t want a person like that near my child, you know?”

Harry makes a surprised face at that, so Louis is quick to elaborate.

“I’m sure she had her reasons, you know, like, I don’t blame her for not wanting to raise Addy; that’s not the matter at all. It’s just -- Addy was left in a diaper and a thin blanket on the floor for, we guessed, almost the whole night. Her diaper was soiled and she was hungry and there was hardly anything in the small diaper bag except for two diapers, her temporary birth certificate, and one of those free formula packet things you get in the mail for signing up for some email newsletters. After seeing my daughter like that, I knew whoever it was I had gotten pregnant wasn’t someone I wanted around again, you know?”

Harry’s face turns shocked, eyes and mouth wide open.

“I overshared, didn’t I?” Louis winces, “Sorry, I tend to just not really be able to shut up once I get to talking about something, I didn’t mean to --”

“Louis,” Harry cuts him off, “It’s fine. You were quite...amazing, really, to take Addy in the way you did without even hesitating.”

“Well, it wasn’t just me. My roommate, Zayn, agreed to help out and my mom’s a nurse and delivers babies almost exclusively. I’ve also got a ton of sisters who adore the shit out of Addy, so it wasn’t exactly hard. Just -- a lot to take in at once, I suppose. Having to find a real job instead of the café I worked at, having to make sure all the outlets were covered and the house was actually _clean_.” Harry laughs a bit at that, Louis smiling back at him. “But it’s in the past, now. It’s gotten better. Zayn’s slated to move out mid-summer, though, so that’ll be a new adjustment to not have him around.”

“Zayn...is that Zayn Malik? Like, the guy who’s out at the front desk all the time and looks like he’s been chiseled from stone that was picked and blessed by God himself?”

Louis is laughing loudly at this point, tears pricking his eyes, but he nods along anyways.

“Yes, that Zayn.”

“God, you _live_ with him? Are you real?” Harry narrows his eyes and his voice lowers to a whisper as he says, “Is _he_ real?”

“Yes, Zayn Malik is a real, live human being, Harry, thank you.” Louis replies, sarcasm dripping and Harry barking out a laugh.

“Hey, Harry, you ready to go home?” Comes a voice from the doorway and Louis turns around to see a boy a bit shorter than Harry and with floppy, dyed blonde hair. Louis and the boy share a polite smile and a wave before they both turn back to Harry.

“Yeah, Niall, I’ll be there in a sec.” The boy, Niall, apparently, gives another wave of acknowledgement and leaves, his footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. Harry walks over to the corner to grab his own bag, unplugging his iPod from the speaker and tossing it in the bag. “That was my roommate, by the way. I am also single, in case you were curious.”

Harry throws a flirting smile and wink Louis’ way before walking out the room in a cloud of curls and sex appeal.

Louis is fucked, essentially.

 

* * *

 

 

Perhaps it’s a bit inevitable, but Louis runs into Harry at the grocery store that weekend. Louis has just picked Addy up from Sarah’s house and they’d had pancakes for breakfast so she’s pretty wired and running up and down the aisles. Louis isn’t really paying attention, trying to see if he wants Captain Crunch or Froot Loops this time around, when he hears an “Oof!” from the end of the hallway and Addy profusely apologizing to whoever she had run into.

Louis looks up, ready to walk over there and apologize as well for his daughter’s behavior when he sees just who Addy’s talking to -- Harry. Christ, Louis’ never seen Harry look like this, either. He’s in a loose sweater and some unforgivably tight jeans along with Chelsea boots that look like they’ve seen better days strapped to his feet. Harry’s curls are also down, which Louis hasn’t seen before, either; his hair reaches just past his shoulders and it looks _so good_.

From this end of the aisle, Louis can only hear about half of their conversation, but it seems as if Addy is trying to get Harry to judge her twirling skills. He makes a spinning motion with his finger, stepping back to give her some room and she hops up on one foot and twirls for him.

“Oh, wow! That was amazing!” Harry doesn’t even look like he’s exaggerating that much, either;  Addy’s always been a natural. As Addy does another pirouette, Harry’s eyes lock with Louis’ own, and they share a soft smile.

Louis places both boxes of cereal into his shopping cart and walks forward to the pair. As Louis nears them, Addy slows to a stop, and Louis notices when she looks between Louis and Harry multiple times.

He knows the exact moment her plan formulates.

“Daddy, can Harry come over for dinner please?”

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t expecting _that_.

“Um,” Louis stammers a bit, his gaze flickering between his daughter and Harry. The other man is blushing profusely, but he’s meeting Louis’ gaze, which is _something_ , at least. He’s also constantly running a hand through his curly locks, belying nervousness, but it’s not like Louis can blame him. His own stomach is fluttering wildly. “Maybe another time, sweetheart. Liam is coming over tonight, remember?”

Louis can’t help but notice how disappointment floods Harry’s eyes. Additionally, so do his daughter’s eyes, but -- and not to sound too harsh -- she can get over it.

“But _when_?” She whines at him, throwing not-so-subtle glances towards Harry. Louis rolls his eyes at her. He had to have a talk with her about the concept of subtlety.

“Whenever suits him, I suppose.” Louis looks back to Harry. Maybe, by placing the decision in Harry’s hands, it will end up well.

“Well,” Harry starts off, “I’m free this Friday. If that, um, if that works for you.”

“But that’s a whole _week_ away!” Addy stomps her foot, pouting at the long wait.

“Addison, we do not stomp our feet and throw a fit when things don’t go our way.” Louis scolds.

“Oh, but I thought _you_ did?” Harry teases, causing Addy to laugh brightly, her momentary pout forgotten. Louis just rolls his eyes at him.

“Whatever.” They’re left at a bit of a stand-off, then, neither of them knowing whether or not they should continue the conversation, when it strikes Louis. “Hey, I don’t have your number?” Louis pats at all of his pockets until he finds his phone in his back one, pulling it out and handing it over to Harry.

Harry just smiles at him, pushing his long hair out of his face again and typing his number into the contact screen. Harry texts himself something from Louis’ phone, Louis hearing the tone of some song that Louis is _sure_ he’s heard before but just can’t place.

“All done,” Harry says with a smile, handing Louis his phone back. And it is done and they’re stuck for conversation again. “I’ll...see you on Monday, then?” Harry prompts and Louis nods back.

“Will do, Harry. See you.” Louis goes to push the cart away and towards the next aisle when Harry’s arm shoots out, roping Louis into a firm hug. Addy weasels her way in between them, hugging one of her arms on one of their legs. It feels -- _big_. Something significant, like this will stick with him forever.

Harry presses a kiss to Louis’ forehead; it’s subtle, light, but Louis knows what it was.

“Bye, Lou.” Harry whispers against Louis’ skin, and then he’s off down the aisle and walking away.

 

* * *

 

 

Louis isn’t ready at all by the time Friday rolls around. He’s been a mess at school all day, spilling his drink all over his desk and then having to call Zayn to take Addy to her lessons after remembering at the very last second he had a faculty meeting to attend. By the time Louis can finally leave the damn building and his phone’s back on, he has four missed calls and seven text messages, all from Harry.

They all say essentially the same thing: _Are we still having dinner tonight?_

They have have been texting back and forth all week in addition to their daily chats, and it’s been really, very, awfully nice. Louis hasn’t felt like this since high school, probably. It’s a lovely feeling, this swelling he gets in his stomach and a thrumming in his veins.

Right now, though, all he feels is nerves, and _not_ the good kind.

He quickly pulls up Harry’s contact, calling him; it rings for a few seconds until Louis hears a snick and a slow “Hello?”

“Harry, hey!” Louis takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “Sorry for being kind of AWOL today. It’s just been a shit day and I forgot about a faculty meeting this afternoon, so that’s why I wasn’t at Addy’s lessons. Zayn’s probably taken Addy home by now, but, I mean, I can come get you? Wherever you are? Or you can just meet me at my place, either way works.”

“You can pick me up, if you’d like.” Harry’s saying as Louis slides into his car, an address being rattled off into his ear. They say goodbye quickly and Louis starts the drive.

It seems Harry doesn’t live too far from them, funnily enough; it feels about a ten minute drive since Louis passes his own house to get to Harry’s complex. Just as Louis pulls into the lot, however, he seems to realize a few things: namely, should he have brought Harry flowers? And second, Harry did know he wasn’t going to be taken _out_ to eat, right?

 _Well_ , he thinks, _it’s a bit late now_. What’s done is done.

He walks up to the door and pushes the button next to the one labelled _Styles/Horan._ There’s a short buzz and Niall’s voice, filled with laughter, saying a short “Your boyfriend will be right down, Lou,” with Harry’s voice protesting over it before the loud noise is cut off abruptly.

Alrighty, then.

A frazzled Harry comes down a few minutes later, straightening out his collar and smoothing down his hair.

“Sorry about, uh, what Niall said over the com. Unless you couldn’t understand him? You probably couldn’t understand him, we were pretty loud, sorry, uh--”

“Harry, I heard him just fine. You’re okay.” Louis smiles at him, feeling better about the fact that he wasn’t the only one nervous. “Deep breaths.”

Harry laughs breathily for a moment, still fidgeting with his shirt. “You look lovely, by the way.” Harry adds, eyes going down Louis’ body. Louis gulps, his body feeling like it’s on fire with the way Harry’s looking at him. It isn’t much -- just a navy blue button-up and slacks, almost identical to every other work outfit that Louis owns, and definitely an outfit Harry’s seen him in before, but. Who is he to tell Harry he’s wrong?

“Thank you. You also look very,” He racks his brain for an appropriate word, “lovely.”

And Harry really does. Harry seems to have quite the eye for fashion because he’s got on another loose shirt, but this time it’s a lovely pastel floral pattern that does wonders for making his curls look that much more cherubic. Harry just looks down at his outfit, smiling to himself, and it’s cute. Harry’s fucking cute.

“Shall we?” Louis asks, offering his arm in a vaguely awkward way because giving his elbow for Harry to grab was kind of a knee-jerk reaction, but he regretted it halfway through and so now it’s just kind of there. Harry takes it anyway, probably out of pity, but it makes Louis feel a bit better about the gesture.

“We shall.” Harry replies. Louis leads him towards the car and once they’re both inside and buckled in, they’re off.

There’s a few minutes of awkward silence as Louis prays to God that Harry won’t bring it up, but of course he does.

“Are we not going downtown?” Harry asks, turning his head away from where he’d been looking out the window and towards Louis.

“Uh, no.” Fuck, he knew he should have clarified better. “We’re eating dinner at my place. With Addy.”

“Oh. Okay.” Harry sounds calm about it, but for some reason, Louis still needs to explain himself.

“It’s just -- it was kind of her idea, you know? I felt it would be a bit unfair to her if I just suddenly said that you and I would be going out without her. Not that I don’t, like, want to go out with you alone, I mean. That would be nice, but, uh, it’s just, not what we’re doing tonight.” _Deep breaths, Louis._ “So, yeah, we’re eating at my place with Addy and I told Zayn he’s gonna have to stay in his room all night so you wouldn’t have a heart attack.”

“Oi!” Harry protests and the awkward air Louis had no one to blame for but himself finally dissipated.

When they pull into the driveway, Louis sees Addy pull back the curtains in the living room window and wave at them, her hand going so fast it’s almost a blur. Almost in unison, Louis and Harry wave at her from the car and they both burst into laughter. _God_ , he hasn’t laughed this much with someone since meeting Liam for the first time.

The dinner goes well.

Louis had planned on spaghetti, but then Addy ends up knocking the pot over while she’s trying to peek in, and after both Harry and Louis rush over to check to make sure she’s okay, they decide it’d probably be best to just order in a pizza. Of course, at the sound of the doorbell ringing, Zayn comes out of his fortress and demands a few slices, and somehow the evening ends with all of them playing Monopoly on the living room floor.

During the game, they all have an unspoken agreement that Addy has to win, and win she does.

Then later that night when Louis drops Harry off for the night back at his complex, they even share a short, chaste kiss.

It’s like nothing Louis’ ever had before and he already can’t get enough.

 

* * *

 

 

“Daddy, I can’t find my tutu!” Addy’s yelling from across the house, voice faint beyond the multiple walls between Louis and her room. Louis sighs from where he is in the kitchen, trying to get some last minute dishes done, but he just sets the bowl back down in the sink and goes to see if he can help her.

When he opens her door, a shirt is promptly thrown into his face.

It seems Addy’s taken it upon herself to search the entirety of her closet for the tutu that Louis packed into her dance bag last night. Her clothes are strewn about her room and he’s just grateful neither of them have school today.

No. Today is, instead, Addy’s recital.

She’d been so excited about it last night she could hardly sleep, which was fine by Louis as her recital isn’t until this evening and he usually allows her to sleep in a bit later on Saturdays anyway. So now Addy’s wired up from lack of sleep and probably stressed out of her poor mind.

“Baby,” Louis starts, trying to ease her into it, “thanks for trying to help out, but I put your tutu in your bag already. I got your leotard, your shoes, your tights, and your tiara in there as well.”

Addy looks up at him then and runs to him, almost tripping over her piles of scattered clothing and hugs him around the middle, bursting into tears.

“Ohhhh, no, love, come here, sweetie.” Louis says, his heart breaking for his daughter. She’s been so nervous about this all week and she’s probably tired as well. He picks Addy up, holding her close to him and tucking her head underneath his chin, giving her a solid kiss on the forehead. “Do you want some pancakes? Would that make you feel better?”

So, maybe he’s using his baby voice. Fucking sue him, his daughter is _crying_.

Addy nods against him pathetically and his heart shatters just that much more.

So Louis carries Addy out to the kitchen, still wearing her pajamas and her hair still a mess. Louis sets Addy down in a chair and goes to the cabinet and pulls out pancake mix, quickly putting it together. While he lets it set for a moment, he gets Addy a drink of milk and a coloring page and a couple crayons so she has something to do while he prepares breakfast. He always feels like spoiling her a bit when she cries, it’s like, in his DNA as a father, or something.

Louis’ gotten the art of pancakes down over the years, so it’s no trouble at all for him to make a couple stacks in a short amount of time. Zayn’s already gone off to work for the day, so it’s just Louis and Addy today.

Well, Louis and Addy and Harry, that is.

Harry had come over for dinner again last night and Louis had taken Harry _out_. They’d gone to the boardwalk first, walking around and going in and out of shops to their hearts content, dipping their toes in the freezing water and walking barefoot in the sand, hand in hand. Harry had mockingly said “I love long walks on the beach at sunset,” and Louis had kicked sand his way, which had started a fight that made them both very messy. Which, not as sexual as it sounds.

Then they had gone to dinner, where Louis spared no expense (okay, so he spared a few expenses. He’s still a single parent on a teacher’s salary) and Harry was charmed. Then when Louis went to drop Harry off, the younger boy had realized he’d left his keys in his apartment, and Niall was gone for the weekend. Louis, being the generous soul he is, offered his couch to Harry for the night.

Of course, Addy had been up when they got back home. Zayn could never say no to that girl even if he tried his best to. So with Addy awake, Louis and Harry entertained her for a bit before getting her into a bath and into bed, and it was so utterly domestic neither of them even thought twice before getting into Louis’ bed together, not even discussing who would take each side; it just kinda happened.

And now Harry is asleep in Louis’ bed, and it’s _really_ nice.

A few minutes into breakfast, a sleepy Harry stumbles around the hallway and into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Morning,” Harry yawns, covering his mouth. Addy giggles at the sound of Harry’s sleep-voice, but it turns Louis’ stomach over in a delightful way.

“Good morning, love.” Harry walks over and they share a kiss, Addy gagging in reaction. She’s totally putting on an act because Louis knows better than anyone how happy it makes her that the two of them are more or less dating now.

And Louis is just glad that their relationship has progressed to sharing good morning kisses and sharing breakfast.

When Harry sets himself down at the table, Louis promptly sets a plate with a couple pancakes down in front of him, Harry blushing.

“Thank you,” He says, and Louis presses a kiss to Harry’s head.

“Anything for my baby,” Louis teases.

Addy stops coloring for a moment, looking up. “I thought _I_ was your baby! What is this?”

Louis and Harry just share a look of surprise before bursting into laughter.

“You are too, honey, don’t worry.” Harry adds. “So, are you excited for the recital today?” Harry asks Addy as Louis sits down beside him.

Addy shrugs. “Yeah. It’s gonna be awesome. Because _I’m_ awesome.”

“Well, good. Confidence is key, Addy.” Harry advises, spearing a couple bites of pancake into his mouth.

They eat in silence for a bit before Harry looks up.

“I’m supposed to wear something nice to the recital tonight, but I obviously can’t get into the apartment. Can I have Liam’s number maybe? I think I’d be the same size as him.” Louis nods at him, his own mouth full so he can’t respond in words, but he does pull his phone out and unlocks it, sliding it towards Harry.

After a few moments, Harry’s eyebrows crinkle.

“Um, you don’t have Liam’s number?”

Louis swallows down his food. “What? Yes, I do, it’s just -- oh, no right.” Louis lets out a short laugh. “It’s under ‘Batman,’ I forgot. Sorry.”

Harry chuckles for a moment at that, stepping away from the table to ring Liam.

There’s a couple minutes of silence, the only sound coming from Harry’s phone call in the living room and the scratch of food on plates and Addy’s crayon on her paper.

“Daddy,” Addy’s voice comes up. “Is Harry gonna be my second Daddy?”

Louis chokes on his food.

Once he swallows it down and drinks plenty of water, Harry’s sitting down and returning his phone.

“You okay?” Harry’s asking, his smirk just telling enough that Louis knows he’s heard what Addy just asked him.

“Fine,” Louis grits back, coughing a couple more times. “And...well, maybe. It’s a bit up to Harry, really.” Louis looks to Harry, where he’s dressed in Louis’ own pajamas, with his rumpled, bed-ridden curls, and sitting in Louis’ kitchen, and feels nothing short of love.

Harry takes Louis’ hand, and it’s enough for him.

It’s a beautiful start.

**Author's Note:**

> again, i had a lot of fun writing this, even if i didn't get everything in your prompt due to being short on time ! maybe i'll return to this and spruce it up one day but i think for right now it's pretty nice :) i used to do ballet when i was younger so this was a nice little thing to write about.
> 
> the title is from that's what's up by edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros (tho if we're being honest it's the lennon & maisy cover bc that cover is everything to me)


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